


Weakness

by albusev



Series: Asuna and Kazuto one-shot collection [2]
Category: Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Healing, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:49:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24200866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/albusev/pseuds/albusev
Summary: Asuna has had enough of physical therapy after waking up from ALO. Kazuto is there to help her.
Relationships: Kirigaya Kazuto | Kirito/Yuuki Asuna | Asuna
Series: Asuna and Kazuto one-shot collection [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1742830
Kudos: 29





	Weakness

Asuna grabbed her pillow and screamed into it in frustration. After a rough morning of physical therapy, she was taking a break, sitting on the edge of her hospital bed. It was hard to believe that she had woken up a little under a week ago from the horrors of her imprisonment in Alfheim Online.

' _Why is this so hard!? I just want to be able to go home and get back to my life!_ ' Asuna was having a difficult time gaining her mobility back after the two years of immobility. While the doctors and nurses kept telling her she had improved so much, she could not help but think she was behind. She could not walk for more than a few minutes without falling over in exhaustion and her legs were still so weak that she often fell over from imbalance. 

A few friends from SAO had visited her since she woke and while she loved seeing them, it did not help her morale. Seeing Rika walk almost perfectly made her feel weak. Even Kazuto's ease of mobility hurt her, though each time she would have those thoughts about Kazuto she would immediately regret it because she loved his visits and would be much worse off without them. She knew she was not thinking clearly, they had been awake for months longer than she has, but hey, who said emotions were rational? 

Her silenced scream seemed to help her calm down a bit, but she kept the pillow in her lap for a moment, as if deciding if she would need it again. Just then, she heard her door open behind her and did not have to look around to know that her love had arrived. She waited in silence and moments later, the hospital bed sagged under the weight of a new body sitting on the bed, followed shortly by two arms scooping her up in their warm embrace. 

"Asuna, how are you feeling today? I wanted to give you a little time to work without my distractions." Kazuto greeted her

"Hi Kirito," Asuna replied, turning her head around to face the boy embracing her from behind before giving him a small peck on the cheek. "I'm good. Just been a long morning, but its better now that you are here." Asuna's cheeks got a bit flushed as she added the second part, leading her to lower her head, averting it from Kazuto's gaze

Kazuto let out a tiny chuckle and lifted one of his hands from around her waist to tilt her head back in his direction. "Oh Asuna. Don't be shy. My day got so much better since the moment I walked in the room." Kazuto, being a bit unfamiliar with displays of affection, did his best to suppress his own bush from appearing. If he was not blushing to begin with, a blush did appear as he leaned his head down to her level in an effort to kiss his love. Their lip met for only a minute in a very chaste kiss, but to each of them, having been disconnected from each other for months after they had become so close in SAO, it felt like a lifetime. 

When they separated, Asuna made a quiet groan of protest, but as soon as she realized Kazuto had heard her, she tried to change the subject, "How are Suguha and your aunt? I really enjoyed meeting them the other day when they came with you." 

"They are good, and can't wait for you to get better to be able to come over and..." Kazuto trailed off as he saw his girlfriend's demeanor change at his mention of being released from the hospital. He noticed tears start to appear in her eyes and immediately started panicking. "A-a-Asuna. What's wrong? Is everything okay?"

Asuna slipped out of his embrace as he asked these questions, shimmying up a bit on the bed, so that they were sitting side by side on the edge of the bed. While he did not take his gaze off of her, watching her as she sit in silence, Asuna averted her gaze from Kazuto, instead focusing her attention out her window. "I-I feel so weak Kirito. I still can't walk by myself and it doesn't seem like I will ever get out of this hospital!" the tears that began to appear moments before were now flowing freely down her cheeks. 

Kazuto got off of the bed and walked in front of her, out of fear that she would simply look away from him if he did not position himself directly in her eye line. Kazuto put both hands on each of her cheeks and wiped away the tears. He dropped his right hand and took her left hand in it, leaving his left hand on her cheek, slowly rubbing his thumb in circles on her cheek. "Asuna, you are so strong. The strongest person I know! You are working so hard and I am so proud of you. Everyone's recovery takes time." 

Anger flashed in Asuna's eyes and she jerked her head away, leaving his hand cupping empty space. She, however, remained contact with his right hand, his fingers woven together with hers. Asuna yelled at Kazuto, "I am so tired of people telling me that! My doctors, the nurses, my parents! I just want to be able to walk and be my normal self again. Every second I spend here because I can't move is another second that SAO and then Sugou stole from me!" While she was yelling, her face flushed red with anger. 

Kazuto was taken aback by her sudden anger. He knew that she was quick to anger, and he had been the target of this anger back in the game, like when they spent that first night together and she thought he had wanted to have sex so she got undressed in front of him, but something was different about this. In the past she had always said that the people that she met, especially him, were the reason why she must have put on the Nerve Gear that morning almost three years ago. 

Seeing the pain she had caused, she quickly recovered and lifted the and that was holding Kazuto's a moment before to his face, to cup his cheek. "I'm sorry Kirito, I did not mean to imply that meeting you was a part of that, you were what made the time in the games worth it. I just wanted to be able to wake up and live again, to get out of this room, to go on dates with you, and things a normal 17 year old should be able to do." 

"I know Asuna. Your comment just caught me off guard. I know its not fair! You deserve to be able to do all those things. And you will! I am here to help." he paused for a moment to take her hand that was at his cheek in his own. "You are doing so much better than I did. After I woke up and tried to find you but couldn't, I gave up. I barely moved, I was overtaken with depression. My aunt and Suguha were so afraid. It actually wasn't until Kikuoka Seijirou came to talk to me about beating the game and I asked for help finding you that I started trying. You see, once I knew where you were, and that you were still not awake, I needed to see you. I had something to fight for." 

His own tears were threatening to escape as he openly talked about one of the worst moments in his life. "Oh Kirito!" Asuna squealed as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to sit beside her again. "I'm so sorry Kirito. Don't cry. You found me, and saved me all over again." 

"Thanks Asuna. But how did we turn this around to comfort me?! We were talking about you." He replied slyly, then quickly moved his hands so that he was tickling Asuna's sides. 

Asuna fell back onto the bed, and shrieked, "Kirito. No fair! No playing dirty!" This continued for a minute or two until a nurse opened the door and cleared her throat. 

Kazuto immediately jumped off the bed and stood a few feet away from Asuna, deeply embarrassed by his conduct. Asuna's face was similarly red, but he wasn't sure if it was from exerting energy or embarrassment. 

"Don't be embarrassed you two, I just came in to check on Miss Yuuki and to say that she had another physical therapy session after lunch." she turned around to leave and then turned her head back towards the couple and added, "Carry on you two... oh to be young and in love" 

Asuna and Kazuto stood there awkwardly for a moment before Kazuto broke out into laughter. He had moved back closer to Asuna's bedside, allowing her to hit his arm and huff "Oh Kirito! stop laughing you dummy! That was so embarrassing!" 

"Hey! you heard her... to be young and in love... she obviously approved!" Kazuto retorted. And then before she could argue, he silenced her with a kiss. 

When they finally broke apart to regain their breath, Asuna pouted, "Thats not fair Kirito. You don't play fair!" 

"Now come on Asuna, you know you would have laughed too!" 

"Alright, I guess potentially, depending on the situation, I would have too." she acquiesced. 

Asuna scooted over once more, allowing Kazuto to rejoin her on the bed. After taking his spot next to her, Kazuto said, "After lunch can I help you with your rehab? I want to help you so you can get stronger. That way we can finally go on our real date... Not that I don't like our daily visits..." 

"Of course Kirito! I was hoping you would offer." she looked at him lovingly and kissed his cheek, then turned her head a bit and said, more to herself than to Kazuto, "I can't wait for a real date!" 

The two teens sat and awaited what the rest of the afternoon had to offer.


End file.
